This status in the Page indexing report means Google found the URL, through a link or a sitemap for example, but has not fetched it. Search Console Help explains that Google wanted to crawl the page but postponed the visit, possibly to avoid overloading the site, which is why the last crawl date is empty. Google has not seen the page's content yet, so the content itself is not what the status is judging.
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Why URLs sit in this status
New URLs often pass through this state and move on with no action. It is worth investigating when the count stays high or includes pages that matter. Google's crawl budget guide names sites with a large share of URLs in this status as part of its audience, and describes crawling as limited by both server capacity and crawl demand.
- A slow server or one returning errors, which lowers crawl capacity
- Far more URLs than the site can justify, such as filter or parameter variations
- Weak internal linking, so the URL looks unimportant
- A large batch of new pages published at once
How to work through it
Export the examples and group them by template or folder. Decide which should be indexed at all. Then improve the pages that matter and stop generating or linking to the ones that do not.
Check server health in the Crawl Stats report, add internal links from pages that are already crawled, and keep the sitemap limited to URLs you want in the index.
Compared with crawled - currently not indexed
The neighboring status means Google has fetched the page and chosen not to index it for now. In that case the page itself is a likely place to look. For a URL that was discovered but not crawled, start with crawl capacity, URL inventory and internal links.
Example
A programmatic launch that outran the site
Hypothetical data tool Hexmeridian published a large batch of location pages in a single week, and most stayed in this status. Crawl Stats showed response times rising on the same template.
The team sped up the template, cut near-empty pages, and released the rest in smaller batches, each linked from a relevant category page.
Common mistakes
Requesting indexing for every URL
Manual requests do not scale and leave the cause in place. Fix the template, inventory or linking problem instead.
Rewriting content first
Google has not crawled these URLs, so a rewrite cannot be the first answer. Look at crawling and site signals first.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Google lists it as a reason a page is not indexed, and new pages often pass through it. It becomes a concern when important pages stay there.
Google gives no set period. Watch whether the count falls and whether the pages you care about move on, and investigate if they do not.
A sitemap helps Google find URLs, but Google already knows about these. Better internal links, a healthier server and fewer low-value URLs are the more likely fixes.
Keep reading
- Crawled - Currently Not Indexed: Crawled - currently not indexed is a Search Console status meaning Google fetched a page but did not add it to the index. The page may still be indexed later.
- Page Indexing Report: The Page indexing report in Google Search Console shows which of your URLs Google has indexed and gives a reason for each one it has not.
- Crawl Budget: Crawl budget is the number of URLs a search engine is able and willing to crawl on a site in a given period.
- Index Bloat: Index bloat is when a search engine indexes many low-value URLs from your site, such as tag pages, parameters or thin templates, alongside the pages you care about.
- AMP: AMP is a web framework for building fast-loading pages under strict rules on JavaScript and CSS. Google no longer requires it for the Top Stories carousel.
- Cache-Control: Cache-Control is an HTTP header that tells browsers and CDNs whether and how long to store a response. Good caching makes repeat loads and crawls faster.
- Canonical URL: A canonical URL is the version of a page search engines treat as the main one when several URLs show the same or very similar content.
- Canonicalization: Canonicalization is the process of choosing one preferred URL when several pages have duplicate or very similar content, so search engines know which version to show.
